No person related within the second degree by affinity or within the third degree by consanguinity, to the Mayor, or to any member of the City Council or to the City Manager, shall be appointed to any paid office, position, clerkship or service of the City.
The Council may by appropriate ordinance, provide for the indemnification and defense of the officers and employees of the City, including members of the Council, or any board, commission, or committee, including volunteers, against any loss, cost, or expense, including court costs and attorneys’ fees, to the extent allowed by law, arising out of any claim, suit, or judgment, or settlement thereof, resulting from any alleged negligent act or omission of such officer, employee, member, or volunteer during the discharge of his or her duties and within the scope of his or her office, employment, membership, or assigned voluntary position with the City, or in any other case where the City is directed or authorized by law to do so, provided however, that such indemnification will not be provided for any act arising out of the intentional or knowing violation of any penal statute or ordinance arising out of any conduct determined by final judgment to be an act of fraud or to have been taken with the intent to deceive or defraud, or for any personal or private business of such officer, employee, member or volunteer, or for the gross negligence or official misconduct, or willful or wrongful act or omission of such officer, employee, member or volunteer.
All contracts entered into by the City of Lake Worth or for its benefit, prior to the taking effect of this Charter, shall continue in full force and effect. All rights, immunities, powers, privileges and franchises now possessed by said City shall also continue in full force and effect.
If any section or part of section of this Charter shall be held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the remainder of this Charter nor the context in which such section or part of section so held invalid may appear, except to the extent that an entire section or part of section may be inseparably connected in meaning and effect with the section or part of section to which such holding shall directly apply.
The City Manager shall, at least once every five (5) years, review the Charter and make recommendations to the City Council for proposed Charter amendments, if any. Amendments to this Charter may be framed and submitted to the voters of the City in the manner provided by State law.
The use of the singular number includes the plural, and the plural the singular, words used in the masculine gender include the feminine also, and reference to the City Council or Councilmember shall include the Mayor, unless by reasonable construction, it appears that such was not the intention of the language of this Charter. All references to State law, or the laws of the State of Texas, however expressed, shall mean as presently enacted or hereinafter enacted or amended.
All ordinances of the City of Lake Worth now in existence and not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter shall remain in full force and effect until altered, amended or repealed by the City Council. If parts of ordinances now in existence are inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter, then such parts are hereby repealed, but the remaining parts of such ordinances shall remain in full force and effect until altered, amended or repealed by the City Council.
Before the City shall be liable for a claim or suit for personal injury or damage to property, the person who is injured or whose property is damaged, or someone on the person’s behalf, shall give the City Manager or the City Manager’s designee notice in writing duly verified within thirty (30) days after the occurring of the alleged injury or damage was sustained, and setting forth the extent of the injury or damage as accurately as possible, and giving the names and addresses of all witnesses and upon whose testimony such person is relying to establish the injury or damage. No action at law shall be brought against the City for personal injury or damage to property prior to the expiration of sixty (60) days after the notice hereinbefore described has been filed with the City Manager or the City Manager’s designee.
The general laws of the State of Texas and ordinances of the Council shall furnish the authority for the power and exercise thereof and control all matters to the extent not specifically and completely covered by this Charter. In the event that City Charter and State Law conflict, State Law provisions shall supersede with the exception of when there is a more restrictive timeline and/or guideline.